Mir means World and Peace. It is a national payment system established by a law adopted by the Central Bank of Russia on 1 May 2017.
It is currently accepted mostly by Russia-based companies such as Aeroflot and Russian Railways, but it is gradually gaining acceptance among foreign companies with Russian affiliates. The system is operated by the National Payment Card System of Russia, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Central Bank of Russia.
The system was designed in 2016 as a way to overcome potential electronic payment blockades, after several Russian banks were denied services by the US-based Visa and MasterCard because of sanctions imposed on them. The first cards operating on the Mir system were launched in December 2015. It also began to be used in October 2016 by Sberbank, Russia’s leading bank. By the end of 2016, 1.76 million Mir cards had been issued by 64 banks, and by November 2019 this number had risen to 69.8 million.
So in which countries is MIR valid?
It is valid in the Russian Federation, South Ossetia, Turkey, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
Which banks support MIR in Turkey?
Currently, Isbank, Ziraat Bank and Vakifbank support MIR in Turkey.
What should we understand by the term support?
We can take it to mean that the ATMs and POS terminals of Isbank, Ziraat Bank and Vakifbank recognize cards of the MIR scheme and process transactions on them without problems.
So why is the Mir payment scheme accepted rather than other payment schemes? For the cards of a payment scheme to be accepted, those cards must first be used very widely. One in four citizens in Russia uses a Mir card. As of the end of March, the number of Mir cards issued has exceeded 56 million. Because Mir is Russia’s payment scheme, the high number of Russian tourists coming to our country, especially in the summer months, makes it important for banks to ensure acceptance of these cards.
With Mir Card obtaining the permits from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) for use in Turkey and entering use here, the number of Russian tourists is expected to increase by 50 percent. In short, supporting the Mir payment scheme appears set to be a very profitable undertaking both for banks and for our country’s tourism revenues.
